A Baby's Cry: A Mystery Novel Set in East Anglia

By Gillian Anne Gair

Seeking a quieter and safer environment for their baby, Anna and Joe, move into a cottage in a small village in Suffolk. One day, Joe loses patience with Anna and accuses her of being overprotective towards the baby - words that come back to haunt him later that day when Ben disappears from his pram. The story then follows Anna and Joe's emotional journey as the police search for Baby Ben. As the weeks pass, and no trace of Ben is found, Anna pulls herself out of her apathy and despair and sets about trying to find him herself with the help of a washed-up, alcoholic reporter, who left a card with the enigmatic message scribbled on the back: - 'I can help you find your son'. 'A Baby's Cry' examines the effects on Anna and Joe, and the rollercoaster ride of emotions they suffer; while also tracing their relationship, as they both deal with the tragedy in different ways. The close, strong relationship they had previously shared suffers under the strain, and neither is sure life will ever be the same again.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Apr 7, 2011
• ISBN: 9781447618409

Book preview

book.

Prologue

Joe ran to the end of the lane and looked around wildly, with a knot of fear in his stomach. The street was deserted with no one in sight. He ran on into the village, but there didn’t seem to be anyone around. It was after half past four, and most of the mothers had picked up their children from the school and gone home. There was no one around the shop, and the tearoom was closed. He could see the duck pond and the pub beyond, but the village green around the pond was deserted and the pub closed. Joe was at a loss as to where he could look further; surmising that whoever had taken Ben probably had a car, and was therefore long gone. Joe turned around to go home. He really couldn’t believe that this was happening and felt his footsteps slowing, as he traced his route back up the lane. Peter was coming towards him from the opposite direction, and Joe could tell from his body language that he had had no luck either He paused by the hedge bordering the cottage, staring helplessly across the fields, tears coursing down his face. He had never felt so inadequate, and didn’t know just how he could go back inside the cottage, and face Anna. He wiped his eyes, and nodding at Peter, walked up the garden path, with a heavy heart.

Anna looked up expectantly when he walked in and his heart contracted at the sight of her stricken face. He found he was unable to speak, merely shaking his head. Anna seemed to be frozen to the spot, searching his face intently, as if she was waiting for him to reveal it was all a mistake. Joe stared back at her, unable to speak to her, but simply stood there helplessly as tears slowly ran down his face. Anna suddenly shook herself, as a tremor of shock passed through her, and collapsed against her mother, racked by a fit of crying, totally incapable of any rational or coherent thought. Jeannette held her, totally at loss with how to deal with the situation. Joe stood in the doorway, making no move to come across and comfort Anna, instead he remained standing there, unsure of what he should do next.

Anna glanced over at Joe, and was surprised to see him still standing there. She felt a rush of panic, and felt angry that he remained there indecisive and inactive, while Ben was still missing. He suddenly seemed like a stranger caught in the doorway, like a rabbit caught in the headlights of a car; unable to react, frozen in place. The day that she had so looked forward to, and had held so much promise, had turned into her worst nightmare.

Chapter 1

Anna stepped out the front door of the cottage, and immediately sensed that there was something different about the day. It was early April, and she could feel the promise of spring in the air. The sky was a stunning blue colour and absolutely cloudless, and the wind that had seemed to be a feature of every day had dropped down to a whisper. As she glanced down the lane, Anna saw that the trees were beginning to come into leaf, and the blossom was beginning to show on the fruit trees and hawthorns. The verges along the lane were a riot of daffodils that seemed to have appeared overnight. Anna lowered the pram hood, and making sure the baby was tucked up tight, turned towards the village with a light heart.

Anna felt as if she had been incarcerated indoors for an eternity. February and March had been miserable months, with so much rain, and a biting wind seemed to accompany all of the showers. Still, today was liberating; she felt as if she was stepping out from an enforced prison, into a day of promise.

To be fair, the last few weeks had not been that unsatisfying; the birth of baby Ben in early March, had given her something to occupy her time and energy, but she so longed to walk down the lanes with the pram, feeling the sun on her face. Except for a few trips into the village to collect supplies from the butchers, or general store-cum-post-office, with Ben bundled up so snug she couldn’t show him off to people in the village, Anna had been a virtual recluse since his birth. She had been taken unaware of how exhausting a new baby could be - an endless round of feeding, changing nappies and trying to get Ben to sleep. She had been dismissive of most of the books her mother had sent her from America. How hard could it be to establish a routine with one small baby? After all, she wasn’t planning to go back to work. They were fortunate that Joe earned enough for her to stay at home with Ben. It would mean drawing the purse strings in a little tighter, for their move to the village at the beginning of the year had left them with a larger mortgage than they would have liked, but they felt the sacrifices they would have to make would be worth it to bring the baby up in a country environment. However, she had been so unprepared for the amount of work one baby created. Some days she hadn’t managed to shower and dress before lunchtime! Ben was so demanding, and although she had done her best, she had not been able to establish any feeding or sleep routines for him. He slept during the day, and screamed on and off during the night - demanding feeds as it suited him, and never to any set regime that she tried to establish. She hadn’t had time yet to get to know anyone in the village, but everyone seemed friendly enough - smiling at her, when she ventured into the village stores. Today though was different. She walked down the lane with a light step -things were going to improve for the better from now on, of this, she felt certain.

She walked into the village smiling at everyone she met, unaware that her feeling of euphoria and light heartedness was to be so short -lived.

Anna decided to venture further once she had made her few purchases at the village store, and set off to the other end of the village. She had barely explored the area before -when they moved in last January, she was already seven and a half months pregnant, and suffering from high blood pressure, which necessitated finally in spending the last 6 weeks of her pregnancy in hospital.

They had started searching the villages around Ipswich for the ‘perfect property’ when they decided to start a family. She was looking for stability; somewhere that she could put down roots, and where she could picture them over the years, as their family grew. She had had a fairly unsettled childhood, as her parents moved around the country, seemingly unable to settle in one town or city for too long. In all, her family had moved eleven times before Anna left home, and she was determined that she wouldn’t impose a nomadic lifestyle on her family. She came from a loving family, but had never seemed able to make any lasting friends, as they never seemed to stay long enough in one place.

Anna would scour the local papers, and search on the Internet all week, compiling a list of properties that they would visit at the weekends. They were both surprised at how difficult it became to find the right house. Joe was not afraid of undertaking a reasonable amount of renovation, and they looked at everything from new-build to run down wrecks. Their search took up most of their weekends, and they finally felt they had to make a choice if they wished to be settled before the baby arrived. They had managed to short-list two properties, both about 15 miles outside Ipswich, which they felt nearly met their expectations. Determined to make a final decision, they set out for a last viewing of both the properties. Joe was thoroughly fed up with the continual property viewings that seemed to absorb his weekends, and was set on making a decision between the two properties. The first, Holly House, was an old hotchpotch of buildings that the present owners had tastefully restored. The only drawback was the country road, which ran along the side of the garden, and which Joe personally thought could prove to be too noisy. The second house, the Old School House, was in an idyllic setting, but needed some improvements. It had a great deal of character: the original children’s toilet block was still in the back garden, complete with a small door at the rear of each cubicle to allow for the removal of the bucket the toilet seat was placed on. Although the School House had been converted into a private dwelling house some fifteen years previously, the owners informed them that it was still used as a Polling Station for both Local and General Elections. The existing owners were paid a small fee for the use of the School House, and would remove all their downstairs furniture to allow room for the poll booths. Quaint as this seemed, Joe felt it was the only obstacle to this particular house. He did not fancy having to open it to the entire village, albeit only once or twice every few years.

On the decision day, Anna had slipped one more house into their viewing schedule. She had received the particulars some weeks earlier, and for some reason unbeknown to herself, had excluded the house each time she made viewing arrangements. This particular day she thought they should just have a quick look to make sure they had covered everything before they made their decision.

When they called on Rose Cottage, Anna felt her heart lurch. As soon as she stepped over the threshold she knew this was the ‘perfect’ house they had been looking for. She could not explain to Joe exactly why she loved it so much, but she just knew it was so right for them. There was a fair amount of work need, and as Joe was walking around the cottage pointing out the defects, Anna just shrugged, repeatedly stating, I don’t care. I want this house. I want it - I want it! Please we must buy it.

Luckily, Joe was as taken with the cottage as Anna. It was a three-bedded cottage, set in a quiet lane, with a large garden to the rear, which was filled with shrubs, flowers and most of all roses. Roses framed the porch by the front door, and blooms covered the many large bushes that looked to be as old as the cottage itself. Once they had completed the purchase and arranged for the essential works to be completed, it was very close to the expected date of the baby’s arrival when they finally moved in.

She walked past the village green with its picturesque duck pond and the thatched local pub - the Green Man. There was a pretty garden surrounding the pub, enclosed within a white picket fence, and Anna could picture the warm summer evenings when she and Joe could walk down with the pram for a cool lager or two. You couldn’t want for a prettier setting.

At the end of the green there was a small crossroads -the lane on the left led down to the village school - another reason both she and Joe had been so keen on Rose Cottage. From the moment they drove through the village they realised it ticked the whole of their wish list - a decent village school for the impending arrival being top of the list!

The other lanes led away from the village - the right hand lane leading to Hartnett’s farm - (so the sign indicated)-and the lane over the crossroads led straight past the church and village hall, leading eventually to the main road, which in turn led to Ipswich, where Joe worked. Anna took the right-hand lane, reasoning that it at least looked as if it may loop back behind the village, and could be a circuitous route back to Rose Cottage.

She passed Hartnett Farm, which was off a track to the left around the first bend. There was a hand painted sign advertising fresh eggs and potatoes for sale, and on impulse, Anna turned up the track, having decided to buy some eggs. She had always done all of her grocery shopping at the local supermarket, and remembered that one of the reasons Joe was so keen to move into the country was because he was so keen to buy as much of their food from local sources. He had even been talking about the possibility of keeping chickens at Rose Cottage, although Anna was unsure whether she wanted to take on that commitment just at the moment.

She reached the end of the track and came into the farmyard. There was no-one about, although she could hear a dog barking from behind the farmhouse. She went across the yard towards the farmhouse and noticed a table set out in the porch with eggs already boxed up. There was a sign inviting people to help themselves, and a jar set to one side for the money. The eggs were extra large, and priced at one pound a half dozen, which Anna realised was a lot cheaper than the supermarket. She took two boxes off of the table and dropped two pound coins through the slot in the top of the jar. She was surprised at how trusting the farmer was, but also realised that she had yet to come to terms with the totally different way of life in the country.

She left the farm, and continued along the lane. Ben was stirring and had started to cry, and Anna hoped the movement of the pram would settle him down until she reached home. Both sides of the lane were edged with hedgerows fringing fields, some with early crops and others with cattle. She had been walking along aimlessly for ten or fifteen minutes when she saw a pretty cottage on the rise, around the next bend. There was an overgrown garden around the outside, and a large lawn to the left of the cottage, roughly mown. The front of the cottage was filled with overgrown lavender bushes, from which the cottage had clearly derived its name. There was a large, rather fancy pram standing in the lukewarm sunshine, and a row of dazzling white terry towelling nappies hanging from a line strung the length of the lawn. Anna was rather taken aback at the snowy whiteness of the nappies - how could anyone manage to get them so spotless? Anna had been full of good intentions and bought a couple of dozen top quality white terry nappies, but try as she might she could not wash them with any degree of the success that this woman seemed to have. She had been determined to try to be ecologically friendly - disposable nappies were such a drain on natural resources, and were to be used only for emergencies and holidays, but she had been disappointed at her efforts to launder these terry nappies and achieve any degree of success in removing the persistent yellowy stains.

As she stood and stared a woman came out of the house, went across to the pram and gently lifted the baby out of the pram, cooing softly as she did. The baby appeared to be around the same age as Ben, although there the similarity ended. As she had stopped moving, Ben had started crying again, this time in earnest, and Anna felt slightly embarrassed as the other woman’s baby was so quiet. She was excited though at the prospect of another young mother living so close to her and determined to try to make friends with her. She raised a hand to wave at the woman in greeting, but she hugged the baby tight against her shoulder, stared at Anna rather hostilely, and walked into the house.

Anna stood in the lane, stunned. Everyone had been so friendly in the village; it certainly wasn’t the reaction she was expecting.

Yvonne Harris shut and locked the back door, and stood there cradling the baby. She rocked back and forth on her heels, crooning softly to the baby, absentmindedly patting it on the bottom, in a soft rhythmic motion.

Why can’t people leave me alone? she moaned. What makes that woman think we have anything in common, just because we both have young babies? She wouldn’t have acknowledged me if I’d been standing in the garden on my own. We don’t need anyone. We can get along fine on our own.

She walked through to the little sitting room and placed the baby in the crib.

There, there, you little darling, she sang softly. You are a good little boy, aren’t you Simon?

She tiptoed out of the room and went into the kitchen to prepare some lunch.

I think I have the best deal here, she mused. That woman’s baby sounded really querulous. At least Simon doesn’t cry, or keep me up at night. I really am lucky to have such a perfect little baby.

Chapter 2

That evening when Joe came home, Anna recounted the strange encounter she had had with the woman in Lavender Cottage.

It’s possible that she had been having a bad day. I bet if you see her around the village, she will be more welcoming. I wouldn’t worry too much - you are bound to run into her again. You’ll see. I bet you become best of friends! After all, if the two babies are the same age, they will eventually go to the same pre-school and school, won’t they?

Anna nodded and let the subject drop. The woman certainly hadn’t looked like she was having a bad day. She was smartly dressed, and fully made up. For someone with a small baby like hers, Anna had felt exceedingly drab beside her. She hardly found time to tame her long blond hair these days, preferring to scrag it back. Nevertheless, she had yet to find time to complete a full make up routine - well, she was impressed!

The next morning Anna went into the village, and decided to try the small teashop. Ben was asleep in his pram, and the day had started fine and dry again. The teashop was set in a small shop front next to the general stores cum post office, and by mid morning was buzzing with activity. It was clearly the place to meet in the village. The woman running the teashop was happy for Anna to bring the small pram into the premises - helping her through the door and moving a couple of chairs aside for her.

It was a small room, with a low-beamed ceiling. The tables were covered with pretty paisley tablecloths, and on each table, there was a small vase of flowers.

Anna saw a vacant table by the window, and settled the pram by the window, next to her chair. She went over to the counter, where there was an impressive display of homemade cakes. Everything looked neat and clean, and Anna felt sure she would become a regular visitor. She returned to her table feeling self-conscious, as she realised the other customers were all looking at her with undisguised curiosity. They were smiling at her, and trying to peek into the pram. Anna was still taken aback at the friendliness of folks in a village, after living for several years in a busy city, where she had never even spoken to some of her immediate neighbours. The friendliness of people in the village was something that Anna was not used to, and she was so surprised that everyone spoke to her, and people even slowed down in their cars when passing in the lanes, and smiled or waved. The one big difference, she realised, from living in the City, was that everyone looked you in the eye.

By the time she had had two cups of coffee and a rather delicious toasted teacake, Anna had been introduced to all present, and they had all peered in at Ben, oohing and ahhing, as only women can. Anna left the teashop with raised spirits, and an invitation to the Vicarage on Thursday afternoon to meet the women’s circle, which the vicar’s wife was hosting that month.

Anna had asked the people present if they knew the woman from Lavender Cottage. Apparently, she had only been in the village herself for a short while, moving in with the baby, presumably on her own, and nothing was really known about her. They had all seen her around the village - the baby was lovely, they all agreed. Never cries. Very bonny with rosy cheeks - a little like Ben, they all agreed, although Anna assured them that he was not a little angel, and seemed to spend more time awake and crying than asleep. They could give her no further information though; she had not been exactly friendly, keeping herself to herself, and conversation to the bare minimum.

Anna left, promising to bring Ben with her to the meeting at the vicarage, assuring the women that he would be awake for at least some of the time, as they were all longing to hold him. Anna wandered through the village and decided to take the long way home through the back lane, past Lavender Cottage. After all, she reasoned - she did need to walk off the large teacake she had just consumed. She had not put on a lot of weight when Ben was born, but her waistline was a few inches bigger than it used to be. She was fairly tall, at five feet nine and weighed nearly eleven and a half stone - a little exercise and sensible eating should sort that out in time, she felt.

When she came round the bend, she could see Lavender Cottage. There was the line of snowy white nappies fluttering in the breeze, along with an assorted array of small baby clothes. There seemed to be a predominance of blue, so Anna surmised that the baby was probably a boy, like Ben. Unfortunately there was no sign of life. The windows and doors were closed and she couldn’t see the pram in the back garden. Anna felt disappointed, as she had decided to knock on the door and introduce herself. She didn’t know why the woman had seemed so stand-offish, but decided she might just be shy.

Suddenly, as she neared the gate, a pram appeared first into the lane, followed by the woman she had seen yesterday. Close up, she was stunning. Willowy thin, with curly auburn hair, cut into a bob just above her shoulders. She was immaculately dressed, and fully made up. Anna felt dowdy beside her - she had thrown on an old pair